diff --git a/tools/virtiofsd/passthrough_ll.c b/tools/virtiofsd/passthrough_ll.c
index 6592f96f68..2c36f4ec46 100644
--- a/tools/virtiofsd/passthrough_ll.c
+++ b/tools/virtiofsd/passthrough_ll.c
@@ -3831,6 +3831,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     }
 
     if (lo.xattrmap) {
+        lo.xattr = 1;
         parse_xattrmap(&lo);
     }